The Saltiest Reef

[Saltyreef]

Lol. No hoarding going on anymore, most sold. Theyre on grow out right now again.
Covid is dampening my shipping but its ok cause now i can focus on grow outs lol.

 

[Saltyreef]

Quick update

Ive been growing mercer of montanas tetraselmis phytoplankton in hopes of being able to further seed the rocks that are cooking in the rubbermaid and the current established tank.
I also bought some algaebarns oceanmagik so i can have a more diverse population and depending on how easy it cultures, will be using that mixed with straight tetra phyto moving forward.

Planning on culturing off and on depending on my needs.
Also in the future i might start a blackworm culture so i can move away from dried and frozen foods.

 

[Saltyreef]

Update. Phyto culture going well.
Harvested my first 30oz of dense phyto the other day and culturing another batch.

I also bought a bottle of ocean magik from algae barn and am culturing that as well since its 4 different types of phyto in one product.

Biggest thing is keeping it in suspension.

Quick home made box, mounted a $20 ACKE fixture inside. I use it with indoor seed starting but attached a shelf inside for a 2nd bottle. They both fit great.
Another few days and ill be harvesting more.

Top golden bottle is oceanmagik
Bottom dark green bottle is mercers tetraselmis

Rocks have been cooking since 6/12/20
And ive added 10 yr old liverock and a lot of siphoned gunk that has pods, chitons, worms, stars and more over the months.

Also some hermits to keep the rocks clean.

This phyto is being fed to my established tank and my rockwork culture bin to help sustain the microfauna ive been adding.

Oh yea....and ITS A BOY!!!!!!

 

[Saltyreef]

Heres some photos of the marco scape before it went into the culture tub.

Hindsight, i should have used rockdust to cover the joints before the mortar cured :(
Im thinking about pulling the rocks out to finish the job with rock dust and superglue before the color of the rock gets darker...

Theyve been cooking since 6/12 without light and have been being heavily seeded.

 

[Saltyreef]

Things coming together. Literally....

 

[Saltyreef]

Ok, been super busy with remodeling home as well as preparing for my son to make his grand entrance :)

Build has been slowly coming together

I decided on opposite wall for placement as the floor i redid has a slight high spot where i was going to put the tank.
This spot is dead even.
Also, will make a better spot for the side "peninsula" looking view from the hallway.
Frag tank on another stand will eventually sit to its right.

Only bummer is my brand new Fijicube sump was finally leak tested last night and has a seam leak :(
Hopefully they'll stand behind their product and take care of the issue.
More updates to come.

 

[Saltyreef]

New fijicube sump has arrived and leaktested.
Still awaiting fijicubes response for return shipping of the original.
The lid issue i found was an issue with the white acrylic top panel the lids fit into was cut wrong.

Also, unfortunately having an issue with selecting substrate as i finally decided to do sand and not barebottom.

Research pointed me to tropic eden sand but magnetic particles and foreign material found in 2 bags of mesoflakes has pointed me in another direction.

1 more week until i have a little assistant as well.

:)

 

[Saltyreef]

Collected some macro at the beach tidepools today. Some sea lettuce and some unknown red seaweed.
Cold water but hopefully it will acclamate just fine.

Seaweeds (Algae) and Seagrasses

'Seaweeds' includes all plant-like algae found in the ocean (also called macroalgae). Seaweeds are divided up into Rhodophyta or red seaweeds, Chlorophyta or green seaweeds, and Class Phaophycae (in...

www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org

 

[Saltyreef]

So today, I threw out all my old diy 2 part additives consisting of commerical de icer and epsom/mag salts.
Im trying to eliminate ANYthing questionable as I move into the new build so i dont transfer any problems to the new tank.

Ordered some brs USPgrade Cal chloride, mag mix and bicarb with the hybrid balling additives.
Its not my ultimate plan but will help simplify what ive been trying to do by hand for a while.


I tested my current tank the other day and parameters as follows.

Jan 22 2021
Alk 8.4
Cal 385
Mag 1440
Nitrate 30
Phosphate .12

Not bad for 2 months without a WC and testing :p


Been preoccupied but hopefully will slowly get a handle on things

 

[Saltyreef]

Full tank shot.

Can u guess how long its been since i scraped the glass?

Also in the macro algae post, any guesses on the red algae?

Found a snail and a worm crawling around the container this AM so kinda hesistant to introduce the macro to the tank......lol.
I expected critters but second guessing now lol.

 

[LRT]

Full tank shot.

Can u guess how long its been since i scraped the glass?

Also in the macro algae post, any guesses on the red algae?

Found a snail and a worm crawling around the container this AM so kinda hesistant to introduce the macro to the tank......lol.
I expected critters but second guessing now lol.

Gotta get that glass clean man:)
Good to see this coming along!

 

[Saltyreef]

Gotta get that glass clean man:)
Good to see this coming along!

I prefer not to fight with the coraline at this point. Theres going to be no frag racks besides one in my new display and it will be on the backwall with the powerheads so 3 sided cleaning will be much easier....but starphire glass doesnt like being scraped too much.
Part of me wishes i went regular glass.

This is my front viewing pane lol

2nd photo is the coraline diversity i have :)

 

[Saltyreef]

Its all downhill from here!!!!!!

My son and 1st child was born happy and healthy on 2/2/2021 @ 20:21
Hows that for you astrological people.
His life path number is 9 and my birthdate has 4 9's.
Amazing.

Anyways. Thought I'd share.
I have 8 weeks off from work and I hope to get atleast the tank plumbed @ bare minimum.
But whos got time for that when this is all you want to be around :)

#InLOVE

 

[LRT]

Congratulations:D

 

[Saltyreef]

Congratulations:D

Thank you so much!

 

[Saltyreef]

Just hooked up some brs 2 part with the tm hybrid balling trace elements. Crystal clear.
Flushing lines of old yellow DIY 2 part now.

Part C coming soon. Just need to recalc my alk intake.

This is on the original tank. Trying to correct issues still.
Need to get nutrients under control as well as majano infestation.

Heres the temp holding tank i set up for application of franks.
Once i can see the rock is eradicated ill put it in the new tank setup for micro fauna.

 

[Saltyreef]

Started plumbing the overflow today.
Oatey clear primer and glue.
Reduced the 1.5" synergy to 1" @ the box so I can use cheaper 1" fittings down to the sump vs reducing at sump.
Unions and main drain gate done.

Paint removed from overflow gasket area on back of tank. Since it requires the gaskets to sandwich the glass and needed a smooth surface.

Now waiting for another strip of neoprene foam for under the tank.
Made the mistake of trying to use the foam stuck to the bottom of the tank and it came out looking horrible with feathered edges so im going to put the foam down on the stand this time. Just waiting another 10 days for shipping >.<

 

[Saltyreef]

Removing foam stuck under a 150lb tank for 2 weeks.....
I didnt like how the foam looked around the edges so im placing it on the stand instead.
Boy was this a bad idea! Good thing you wont be able to see it under the sand because im not spending anymore time to try and remove all the adhesive too lol.

 

[Saltyreef]

Progress! & break.

 

[Saltyreef]

Ahhh clean work area :)
My wife was happier than me. Now time to start plumbing. The new mat arrived and the install went better than the 1st.

Tested out the Recaro Zero 1 elite from Europe for the boy.
Almost 2 weeks old.
Hes making more progress than the tank :)